| | -
-
-
-
| |  |
|
1 |
-
-
-
| 1 label |  |
|
|
|
| | |
|
| Backpack | 15.50 Miles |
1,540 AEG |
| | Backpack | 15.50 Miles | | | |
| 1,540 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Flew in from Seattle looking for relief from the cold and dark and my first taste of the desert in years. The hairiest part of trip was the early morning drive through an ice storm to Seatac airport.
With a late flight and having to find some alcohol for the stove I arrived too late to get on the trial on Thursday and fetched up in the Lost Dutchman State Park for the night. I hiked up the Siphon Draw trail at sunset for a warm up and spent the long night with coyotes and generators in the campground.
Got on the trail on Friday morning. I hadn't been in the desert for ten or more years and never for a solo backpack so I chose the well-defined Marsh Valley loop from the Carlson and Stewart Hiker's Guide. Even so I lost the Second Water Trail after Garden Valley before it joined the Boulder Canyon trail. I missed a cairn and was wandering down Second Water Canyon when I stopped to take of a layer and noticed another hiker coming down a trail to cross the creek bed, and then I noticed the cairns on both sides. Lucky. Second Water canyon was beautiful with ample water.
She set me right and got me on the Boulder Canyon trail proper. From then on I was very attentive to cairns and managed the rest of the hike with no problems. Even so I'm very impressed with how you guys find your way around the desert. In the cathedral of trees in the Pacific Northwest they're entirely obvious for the most part, or entirely gone in the snow, and we look for badges or blazes on the trees. In the Superstitions I ended up relying on cairns and the obvious hoof prints from horses, either markings in the sand or their white strike marks from their shoes on the stones.
I also got to use my binoculars much more than in the woods, which I greatly enjoyed. Saw red tail hawks, rabbits, quail, an owl and bighorn sheep, though the latter from the car driving along 88 later in the trip.
Attentive to the cairns I negotiated Boulder Canyon to the junction with Cavalry Trail without incident. I was wearing trail runners as usual and carrying a little more weight that I normally do because of the extra water, so my feet started to get sore after a while. Not a surprise since this was my first major hike since September.
Cavalry trail and the approach to La Barge canyon were beautiful. The weather all day was cloudy with a cool breeze. I wore a windshirt comfortably most of the day. There was some drizzling in the late afternoon.
Even so I was a bit freaked out about water since I'm unused to scarcity. I had plenty with about 3 liters since it was cool but I don't know how you folks do it in 80 degrees, much less 100. I got to the junction with the Dutchman's trail and went on to Charlebois Spring to refill since I couldn't find any evidence of water at White Rock Spring.
I retraced my steps and set up camp just east of the junction with Canyon Trail. I set up the my tarptent on some "duff" in a well established campsite but as I got inside I felt a thorn go through my groundsheet, my tent bottom and into my hand. Just as well I discovered it that way rather than having it poke a hole in my air mattress in the middle of the night. I moved the shelter onto some sand. Speaking of thorns I was very impressed with the natural hostility of the desert. Everything grabs at you. This might have something to do with the book I was packing, "River of Doubt," the story of Theodore Roosevelt's near fatal exploration of an Amazon river in 1913. That environment, from indians to insects, was lethal throughout. The desert was more benign, just prickly.
It drizzled on an off all night. I made breakfast in bed at dawn and took the Bull Pass - Dutchman's Trail route back to the parking lot. Since I'd been warned of break-ins at the trailhead I'd parked my stuff with the rangers at the state park and had to get back before the office closed. So I didn't have as much time on the trail as I'd have liked. Had lunch at Parker Pass. The weather was still cloudy though clearing. It got cold that night and was 19 degrees in my campsite in the morning.
It was a great trip. I saw lots of people at the beginning and the end but didn't see a soul once I got on Canyon Trail until Bull Pass the following day. My only regret is that I didn't take the side trail to Black Mesa from Bull Pass. I didn't think I had the time.
I had a great deal of help and advice from HAZ members prior to the trip. Thanks to all. I'll be back. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
